Downfall
by Nueemann
Summary: *RENAMED FROM UPRISING* Sequel to New Beginnings. Summary Inside. Rated T for Language.
1. Introduction & Prologue

**Introduction**

**IMPORTANT!: If you have not read "New Beginnings" yet, do that now, this is the sequel.**

It has been two months since the end of New Beginnings.

Rose and her army have been attacking Moroi families relentlessly.

Suffering defeat after defeat, there are very few places anyone considers "safe" anymore. St. Vladimir's is one of them. Dimitri, Alberta, and every other guardian at St. Vlad's has been waiting, wondering when Rose would attack. But she has special plans for them....

**Prologue - Dimitri POV**

I awoke in a cold sweat, and as I sat up, I grasped my head in my hands as more memories came flooding back. I had begun remembering things when I came back to St. Vladimir's, and I really wish I wasn't. Every time I remembered something, it reminded me of a horrible act I had done while I was a Strigoi, and I wish I could permenantly forget them all. On top of this, I was constantly getting "gifts" from Rose. They were usually pictures or something to show me her most recent massacre. She and her army had been moving with shocking speed, killing one royal family after another. There were several families now on the edge of extinction. The only reason the remaining Royals refused to band together was that they wanted to slow the Strigoi down, and make them travel further to get to them. I have to say that this was the smartest decision I've ever seen the Royal families made. There were several truly "safe" places left now. They included two former Courts over in Europe, an old underground Military Base purchased by some Royals in Germany, a mansion in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, and here, at St. Vladimir's. I wish I could just leave this world and live by myself somewhere, but that would never happen, I would just get hunted down and killed. I heard that the Alchemists were working on a few new potions to try and help us even the overwhelming odds. I looked at the clock and noticed it was around 7 P.M, since the school ran on nocternal schedual, it was early morning. I decided I had better get up and go see Alberta, since I needed to get my watch times for the month. I got out of bed, got dressed, and headed for the Guardians building. As students were leaving their dorms heading for the cafeteria, I noticed the uneasy feeling in the air, they knew that they might be attacked at any minute. I entered the building and saw that Alberta wasn't there, but a few other guardians were sitting in the corner, talking. I took a seat and waited about twenty mintues before Alberta showed up.

"Dimitri. Wasn't expecting you this early, please, come into the office." We entered the office and she closed the door behind us. Taking a seat behind her desk, she eyed me as I said, "I came to get my watch times for this month." She sighed, "Sorry, but I have to remove you from watch. We need a new combat instructor for the Novices. He was captured during a trip to Missoula the other day, we're keeping it quiet for now. We also have reports that the mansion in the Rockies has stopped reporting, so we have sent a small team to investigate." Every home containing Royal Moroi had to report to the Guardians at other homes. This way, we knew if there was any new attacks. Alberta and several other guardians on campus were the interm Guardian Council, and there was nobody serving as a Moroi Queen, since there wasn't one needed. And they would just cause problems.

"We have also recieved word that the Alchemists have almost perfected a very potent poison for use against the Strigoi, but they are having supply problems.", Alberta appeared to have hope for us, but she knew we needed a miracle, and we needed it soon." I sighed and looked at her, "Don't worry, we'll pull through, Rose will make a mistake eventually, and we will get her then, without her, the Strigoi will become bogged down in power struggles." She got up and rubbed her eyes, "Well, let's hope she makes a mistake, because we need her back here with us, and we need her knowledge of that army." I looked her in the eyes, "No. We really don't want her to keep her memory, if she does, she may try this all over again. Don't forget, as a Strigoi, you give in to your base insticts, she always resented Lissa at heart, if she has any memory of of her Strigoi existence, she may revert back to that emotional state. If that happens, she will run, and probably get herself killed." She looked at me and gave me a hopeful look, "I hope she forgets it all then, I just want her back." I started walking out of the room and turned to her to say one last thing, "Push the Alchemists to perfect that damn potion, we need an advantage. If we don't get a miracle soon, we are all dead. In every sense of the word."


	2. Chapter One

**Hey guys n' gals, here is the next chapter.**

**Someone pointed out that Dimitri wasn't really mentioning his love for Rose, so I will try and implement that. I have an idea for a new Romance for Dimitri, and I am looking for some opinion on it.**

**Enjoy the chapter!  
**

**Chapter One - Foolish Students**

The next day, I was due to start teaching combat training to the Novices, and while I knew it would remind me of my sweet Rose, I remembered what she had become. Unless we captured her, she would be a monster her whole life. I entered the gym, which was the area I was given to teach, and looked over my class. They were all novices, about a year younger then Rose was when she was turned. "Alright, today is your first day with me as your teacher, so I'll be a little easy.", I smiled, "Fifteen laps around the track, then back in here for some stretches and sparring practice." I heard several moans and groans, I sighed and decided a little motivational speech was in order. "Look, I'm going to be blunt, there is an army of Strigoi out there over 150 strong, they are almost all former Guardians. They know our training, and they can counter it with their speed, strength, and endurance. The only person I ever truly loved is with them, and I have seen what she is capable of. They will not resist the temptation to kill you and leave your corpse where it falls. They are fighting for only one thing; the extermination of the Royal Families. We are just collateral damage to them. So no matter how bad I treat you, get used to it! They will treat you worse, and if you are awakened with them, your life is over." Most of the students were a little shocked at what I had said, but a few of them were whispering amongst themselves, and one of them, a tall novice who was equally as muscled spoke, "Oh really? How do you know they are all converted Guardians? Almost no one has returned from a fight with them alive. I think you are just saying most of this stuff to keep us in line!"

"How do I know what that army is like? I was among them for a time, but I met salvation with Princess Vasilisa Dragomir, she saved me." The mouthy novice spoke again, "You know what? I think that is some Grade A bullshit! How in the hell would you be turned back from a Strigoi into a Dhampir!" I walked over to him and looked him in the eyes, there was still a thin red line around them, but it wasn't as obvious as it was before. When I spoke to him in a whispering tone, I stopped hiding my fangs. "You don't believe me? Go and ask the fifteen guardians that survived the attack on the Royal Court. They will tell you there were twenty left, and I killed five of them while they were restraining me." He continued looking at me and smiled, then shouted, "Whoa, we got a half Strigoi on campus, someone call the Guardians!", then laughed. I looked at him, and when I heard laughter from behind me, I decided to teach him and everyone else a lesson. I kicked him, he flew a few feet and landed, sliding into the wall. He got up and I strode over and pinned him to the wall, "Lesson One, learn respect! If you disrespect me, you WILL pay the price for it. Lesson Two, I am here to teach you combat training, if you are unwilling to learn and would rather crack jokes about my history," I gave a fang-filled grin, "I can make sure you are thrown into the woods nearby, around midnight. I will NOT have someone with the attitude of this young man becoming responsible for the life of a Moroi." I lowered my arm and turned to walk away, I heard him take a swing at the back of my head, so I reached back and grabbed him by the arm, I then spun him around and tossed him to the floor. "That was clumsy, and it would have gotten you killed anywhere else. Now, all of you, twenty laps around the track, and back in to stretch, I will be back in a few minutes." As they exited, I walked over to the student I had thrown around, I reached out to help him out, and he got up himself, then he just looked at me, "The one you loved," he whispered, "Was she another dhampir?" I turned away and spoke quietly, "Yes. She was just a year older then you, and she secretly meant the world to me. I was the same to her, and I was the one who had turned her. I view myself as responsible for this army that has risen. I can tell you the story someday if you like, but I would advise this conversation remain secret between me and you, or you WILL regret it." He nodded and amazingly went out to run laps.

I looked out the door and watched the novices run around the track, it reminded me of when I had tutored Rose, except on a larger scale, with less respect, and without the love of my life.....

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	3. Chapter Two & Three

**Here is the next two chapters, took me a little longer to write these ones.**

**I follow the standard Disclaimer, I own nothing except for that I write.**

**Thanks to Uchiha Sophitia ****for giving me a few grammar tips and helping me with the plot a bit.**

**Hope you all enjoy, and I hope you all continue to read and enjoy my stories!  
**

**Chapter Two - Shadows Gather**

Shortly after classes had ended, I decided to go see Lissa, since I hadn't seen her for three or four days, and she had been in her room the whole time. She had moved into the guardians building since we returned from the Court, there were a few spare rooms there that were used either for storage or guests, and one of them in particular she liked. It was small and built into a corner of the building, so it was quiet and secluded, perfect for her, especially since she had been so distressed after Adrian and Christian had died. When I approached, I expected to hear something, but I heard nothing. I knocked on the door, no answer. I knocked again, and heard what sounded like soft sobbing. I opened the door and saw Lissa lying on the bed with her face buried in a pillow, she had been trying to muffle the sound of her crying with it.

"Lissa, are you alright?", I asked softly. As I moved towards her, she stopped crying and choked back a few sobs.

She lifted her head and looked at me, "No, I'm not. Without the bond, the shadows are with me, I can't handle them."

I moved over to her and took her in my arms. I whispered softly, "Don't worry, it will be fine, we will save Rose, she will be with us again someday. Nothing will happen to you, because I am here, and I would die to save you, just as I would for Rose."

She looked up curiously and asked, "I understand that you would do it for Rose, but why me? You don't love me the way you do her."

I sighed, "No. But I am a Guardian, you are my charge, I am bound to protect you, no matter what the cost. Even if that cost is my death."

"I am amazed that you would do that for me, even with your position. Is there anything I can do to repay you for that loyalty?"

"Oh, no. I have everything I need already, and I don't need anything else." I went to leave, but she tugged at my arm, I turned around and she looked me in the eyes.

" Well, could you do something for me?" I wanted to leave, but she looked so sweet, and hurt, I couldn't do that to her.

"Well, what would you like Princess?", I asked in a soft tone.

She leaned forward and kissed me.

"I need someone to love me, someone to hold me. I have felt so alone recently, with Rose, Adrian and Christian gone. I need someone who can help me with the shadows."

I knew this was wrong, but she had a point, she was lonely, it was only hurting her. Until we got Rose back, I needed to help her through her suffering.

"I don't have a bond with you, I cannot take your shadows, or the effects they bring."

She looked at me and whispered, "No, but you can help me soften their effects. When Rose was gone, she stopped taking the shadows, but knowing that Adrian and Christian were here, and cared about me. It helped, not as much as taking them completely, but the comfort helped."

She began to sob and I took her in my arms again, "Alright Lissa, I will help you.", I whispered softly. I kissed her lightly on the forehead and lay her down on the bed, I stood up and said in a quiet voice, "I will be back later, I have things to take care of. You just try and rest, please."

She smiled and said back, "Thank you, I have a lot to do too though, but I will be waiting."

As I left the room, I wondered how I was going to fulfill my Guardian duties and help Lissa through her suffering. One thing was for sure though, we needed to take Rose out of the picture, kill her or turn her back, it didn't matter.

We needed to end this.

**Chapter Three - Unexpected Visit**

A few weeks had passed since the houses in the Rocky Mountains had stopped reporting, a scout team was sent, and reported another massacre. Just like every other attack, most of the bodies were Moroi, with few Guardians left. I helped comfort Lissa every two or three days, and she thanked me with a kiss here and a hug there, it was actually rather sweet.

I hadn't received a "package" from Rose about the Colorado attack yet, and I was wondering if I would get one, I did. Instead of something violent or graphic, I recieved a letter, it read:

_My Dearest Dimitri,_

_Meet me outside of the wards of St. Vladimir's by the cabin with Lissa on Friday, after your classes are over. I will be waiting, and Stalkers will be watching. I will trust you not to bring Guardians, and I will not bring any Royal Guardsmen with me. Fail to meet me, or meet me with Guardians, I will run, and return with troops within 48 hours. It would be such a shame to have to shut down St. Vlad's so soon, but it will be up to you._

_Eternally Damned,_

_Queen Rosemarie Hathaway-Sivrisko_

_P.S. - Sarojev and I were married last week. A girl has to move on some time...._

It took me a few minutes to realize Sarojev must have been the odd looking Dhampir I had been seeing in memories. He must be her second in command. If we kill her, I realized, it may not be enough. A Strigoi immune to sunlight would be a very dangerous thing.

I went to see Lissa again, she was laying in bed, watching TV when I got there, and I hugged her and told her the news. "Rose wants us to meet her outside the wards tomorrow after classes.

Lissa, understandably, looked shocked, "What?!? How do we know it isn't an ambush?"

I sighed, "She said if we don't go to meet her, she will return to St. Vladimir's within two days with an attack group. We could never evacuate in that short timespan."

She looked very scared now, "Well, I suppose we have no choice. Even if we are taken, it may save the school for a time."

We decided to go, but make sure I kept my emergency radio on me, it could trigger an automatic distress call at the press of a button, and we could probably use it if it was indeed a trap.

We left immediately after classes ended, this way we would be there and back before anyone noticed. As we neared the cabin, I remembered the night me and Rose had been here, the night this whole mess really started. As we approached, I smelled something vaguely familiar, it was the smell of cloves. I remembered Adrian had smoked clove cigarettes, but he was dead, then I suddenly remembered, Rose had started smoking them shortly after she killed him.

"My sweet Dimka and his charge the Princess Dragomir. So nice you could meet me here.", Rose spoke in a cool, collective tone, she inhaled from the cigarette again, then dropped it and stomped it with her foot. She took a step towards us, and I got ready to fight, but noticed the sword on her back and realized it would be a useless fight, so I just stood there.

After a few minutes of silence, she spoke again, "What, don't feel like talking, I risk my life to come out here, and you decide to stay silent. I hope the students you are training are as effective as you are in combat, otherwise my army will have no true competition."

I was curious as to how she knew I was teaching, but I decided to speak up, "I am training them as well as I did you. So they would be quite an even match."

She laughed with a tone so remorseless and cold it made Lissa shudder, "Even match? I have the same training as them for starters, I also have several sneaky combat tricks as well as the fact I have become an accomplished swordsmen, well, with kanatas anyways." She unsheathed the sword on her back and twirled it a few times before lunging out and pinning me to a tree with her free arm. "Is this an even match little Dimka? If not, they stand no chance." She lowered her arm and put the sword back.

"Do you ever wish you were your old self again? I mean, what is life like now?", Lissa spoke in a quiet but obviously curious tone.

Rose smiled, "I would wish I could live this way forever, but I already can. I feel amazing, my senses, my sight, it is transcendant. I wish you knew what it was like, but you will never feel this way. Ever.

The emphasis Rose put on the "ever" in the sentence meant one thing, Rose would kill her before she would awaken her. I decided to ask her one last question before leaving.

"So, Rose, how is married life? How's your husband."

She looked at me with another smile, "Amazing. He does things with me you never would, including commit and marry me. He has also been leading the others amazingly well, he has a level of natural charisma that is even greater then Lissa's. Everyone loves his speeches."

I decided that it was time to leave. "Come on Lissa, we need to get back, before the others start worrying."

"Nobody would worry about you Dimitri, nobody truly cares about you, well, except for Lissa."

She knew! But how?

"Wait, how do you know about that?"

She laughed, "Dimirti, Dimitri. I have my sources. Now, I must leave, I have business to attend to. Farewell, for now." She lit another cigarette and walked away.


	4. Downfall: Chapter Four

**Here is the next chapter, I hope you all enjoy it!**

**Chapter Four: New Weapons**

About a week after Rose's visit, several shipments of supplies arrived, all of which were from the Alchemists. They were mostly heavy rifles and shotguns, human weapons of course, but they were also accompanied by specially made ammunition.

"You are lucky we managed to develop this, you have been pushing our people too hard. Be very lucky we were willing to help you do this.", the Alchemist in charge of the shipping team was obviously mad, but his team had brought us the first experimental version of their Strigoi poison. "Test subjects were all dead within seconds of exposure, and it isn't lethal or harmful as far as we can tell to humans, Moroi, or Dhampirs. It is like an acid, but the chemical structure makes it target Strigoi blood, burning them alive from the inside out."

The ammunition they provided was loaded with the poisons, if you hit a Strigoi with one of these bullets, it would infect them and burn them alive from the inside out within a minute or two. Thing is, a small handgun wouldn't pack enough punch to get through the likely bulletproof combat uniforms they wore, so we needed weapons that hit hard. The shotguns could send them on their backs for a few seconds, and a well placed rifle shot could go clear through their head. We had also considered using land mines, but the explosions would have been ridiculous, and they were too expensive.

"So, we just shoot them and they should burn to death? Is that it?", Alberta was a little confused as to how these weapons could have been effective at all.

"You may need more then one shot, if all else fails, spray some of it at them, if it gets in their eyes or mouth, it will work. And we have given you plenty of it. We are trying to ship it to other homes, but it is difficult to arrange such shipments overseas without the government questioning what you are up to. The weapons in particular are almost impossible to move out of the country, but the poisons are simple to make and easy to move." The Alchemist decided it was time to leave, so he and his team packed up extra equipment and left.

I left to see Lissa again, and when I got to her room, she was no where to be found. I decided that I should find her, so I went to see if Alberta or anyone else had seen her. When I got to the Guardian's building, I heard Alberta yelling.

"What do you mean! They want to discuss what? Terms of surrender?! You tell them that you would rather die than surrender to them! You are actually considering it, well then, commit your people to death then. Surrender would be death with the Strigoi, and you know it! No matter what, you cannot surrender or stop fighting. Alchemists have perfected the poison for use against the Strigoi, they are trying to ship some of it to you. I will be sure to inform them that a daytime delivery is needed. Alright then, good. Report again tomorrow evening." I heard her slam the phone down and walked in.

"What exactly was that about?", I asked, a but of fury in my tone.

"It is one of the old Courts, over in Europe. The Strigoi have attacked them every night for the last four days, and while they are taking low losses compared to other battles, the losses are still really heavy. Their guardians are determined, but the Captain there appears to be a bit of a coward. The Strigoi took advantage and offered him a ceasefire if they let him take all of the Royal Moroi they have. They said they would leave the non-royals, but I know it is a trick. He wants to take it, but I think I will have to have him relieved of duty.", Alberta looked equally angry and frightened.

"Relieve him then, if he is even considering it, then we shouldn't trust him to keep it together. How did he end up as Captain anyways?"

"Dimitri, this isn't just any normal Guardian, it's Harkin."

I froze. Andrew Harkin was another legend among the Guardians. He had been captured by Strigoi and presumed dead in his first two weeks of service. He returned to the Guardian Council six months after his capture, reporting that he had been held by three separate groups of Strigoi, and that he had killed every single one. Nobody could validate his claims, until he gave the locations of their corpses and Alchemists were dispatched to remove them. He had been decorated with a dozen or so Molnija marks and reassigned to a group of Dashkovs living in Canada somewhere. Two years later, they had been attacked by a group of twelve Strigoi during a small party at their home. He had organized a counterattack against nine Strigoi with only six Guardians, they had won without a single loss. He himself had killed three of them. He had been decorated for his bravery and elected to the Guardian Council for a two year term starting at age 22. It made him the youngest Guardian to ever be elected to the Council, and he had earned it well. During his term, he developed the modern "Pair Guarding" technique, and his battle strategies had been responsible for saving countless Moroi and Guardian lives. After his term was over, he had gone back to guarding the Dashkov family, before finally retiring after over forty-two years of Guardianship. He had stated he was tired of death and just wanted to relax, but before he could really start doing so, he had been re-drafted since the war had started.

"I can't believe Harkin would want to accept surrender. Word is though, he is under a lot of stress, and hasn't been in a good state of mind since he retired. I think we should have left him in retirement."

I looked at her with a very hard look, "Maybe you should have. We don't need a mentally unstable guardian working out there, let alone leading troops."

She sighed, "I'll revoke his authority to give orders and make sure his people keep fighting till the end. Anyways, was there something you wanted?"

I realized why I had come here, "Yes, I was wondering if you knew where Lissa was at, she isn't in her room."

Alberta smiled, "Yes, she said you might come looking for her. She took a walk around campus to meet some of the Novices, she figured meeting such an important person would boost morale."

I smiled and felt proud she had done that, "Where is she now, when will she be back?"

Alberta sighed and leaned back in her chair, "She was looking for Novices, so maybe she will visit your class.", she looked at her watch, then pointed to the clock on the wall, "Which starts in five minutes."

I gasped, then laughed, "Well, I'd better go, see you later."

I left the room and wondered if Harkin was acutally capable of fighting anymore, or if he was just given a leadership position too soon, cowardice was not in his nature. Hopefully though, this whole thing would not blow up in our faces. As I walked to class, I began to think back to what Rose had said about her husband, "He does things with me you never would, including commit and marry me.", I began to feel anger towards Rose, and I felt a desire to do something very odd.

Taste her blood.

**I have a few questions: **

**1)What do you think of Rose's marrige? (Late question, I know.)**

**2)Why do you think Guardian Captain Harkin is looking to Surrender?**

**3)Why do you think Dimitri wants Rose's blood?**

**Be sure to R&R, thanks for reading!**

**-Nueemann**


	5. Downfall: Chapter Five

**Hey all, here is the next chapter. I hope you all continue to read and support!**

**Chapter Five - Spirit Savior**

The next day, I felt really tired. I hadn't slept well, and my stomach wouldn't settle, I think it was because I had been worrying about Lissa. Alberta was wrong, and she didn't come to see the Novices in my class yesterday. I went to find her after classes were over, but Alberta had told me she was asleep, and had come back to her room really tired. I wondered if there was something wrong, so I went to see her again. I took my morning shower and went for a quick run before I went to Lissa's room. When I got there, she was watching something on TV, and I never had a chance to find out what it was, because she shut it off as soon as I entered the room.

"Dimitri!", she cried and jumped off the bed, she ran over and wrapped her arms around me. "I was wondering when you would come see me again, I have been worried about you."

"Why would you be worried about me, if the Strigoi had attacked here, you would definitely know about it. And besides, I was here to visit you yesterday, and you were gone, I checked with Alberta and she said you had gone to see some of the Novices."

"Oh, right. I went around to a few of the classes and talked to some of the students, I wanted to see how they were doing. Amazingly, only the students you teach knew how dangerous the Strigoi out there right now. I considered telling them, but I was tired, and decided that I should mention it to Alberta first. When I got back to my room, I fell asleep." She let go of me and went back to her bed.

"I wonder what we should do. Should we stay here on campus and just let them attack us, or should we try and find out where they are living? I mean, maybe they are still in the home over in Siberia, it is possible they have been there all along."

Lissa eyed me, "I wonder the same thing. If that poison the Alchemists made works, then we should be able to push them back quite far. And we can attack in daylight, they would be at a disadvantage in many ways. I say, stay on defense until the poison is perfected. Then go on the offensive. But first, would you mind staying here for a while, I'd like some time alone with you."

"I have about three hours until I am due to teach, so I will stay for an hour. I need to see Alberta too."

"Thanks so much Dimitri, it really helps."

She just wanted to lay in bed and talk for the hour, so we did. We found ourselves talking about Rose for a while, and I was hoping it would end. Luckily, the hour went by fast, and I left to see Alberta. I arrived at the Guardians building, and Alberta was on the phone again.

"Good, I told you surrendering would be a bad idea. No Captain Harkin, I understand. You are old, stressed, and likely not to happy you were pulled out of retirement. You can transfer here to St Vladimir's if you wish. Perfect, I will arrange for two of our Guardians to be sent over to replace you. Alright, talk to you in a few days." She put the phone down and smiled at me. "That poison worked wonders. Harkin said the Strigoi were screaming from the pain. They managed to capture one, he said it felt worse then a silver stake, and those are acidic enough to them. Some of Harkin's men were worrying that this was inhumane, but then he reminded them that the Strigoi are monsters to start with."

"So we know that it works, but what do we name it? I mean, we can't just call it "Strigoi Poison", that would be too obvious if they ever found some of it. How about, just calling it "Daylight", I know it sounds kind of stupid, but it pretty much does what sunlight does to them."

"Alright. We will ship it to every home we know of. We will not be using it very much after the war though. We don't want it to become a commonly known substance, then the Strigoi will work ways out to avoid it."

"Good point. Maybe now we should try and attack that home over in Siberia again, after all, if Rose and her army are based anywhere, it is likely there."

She considered for a second, "Good point. Maybe the Guardians in Europe can spare some of their numbers to try an attack. We would need to arm you all with those shotguns though, they would be effective in that house."

I sighed, "If anyone is going to that house, I am going. I will not let someone else do it. We will need Lissa too."

Alberta's smile disappeared, "No. She will stay here, it is too dangerous. The possibility of Saving Rose is not great enough to take her over there."

I looked Alberta straight in the eyes, ".Go. If you won't let her, she will go on her own, and you know it."

Alberta looked angry now, "Fine then. Go to Europe, round up any Guardians you can. Find Rose, kill or rescue her. Then find her Second in Command, this "Sarojev" you told me about. He had to die. Living is not an option for him."

"Understood.", I turned to walk out of the room when Alberta told me one other thing I wasn't expecting.

"You are not teaching today. We need you to patrol the perimeter. Reports came in that Strigoi may be watching at night. We need you to check it out."

I left to go check the perimeter, the warded border around campus. When I reached the edge of the wards, I felt like I was being watched. I looked around and noticed a shape dart behind a nearby tree.

That was when it happened.

I smelled something familiar, although I wasn't sure what it was. Finally I realized what it was, blood. Not just blood, Strigoi blood. My senses overpowered me and I lost control. I ran for the tree, finding one of the Strigoi "Stalkers" hiding there, we engaged in a brief but fierce battle, it ended when I suddenly grabbed them and bit into their neck.

By the time I regained control of my body, I was on my knees, I was covered in blood, and there was a dead Strigoi at my feet. I got up, and realized I had gotten my leg broken in the fight, but I managed to walk back to the campus, I made sure nobody saw me head for Lissa's room.

When I opened the door, she looked terrified, "Dimitri! What happened? You look like you just tore someone apart."

I entered the room and shut the door, "Yea, I pretty much did.", I told her what had happened, then mentioned my broken leg. I wish I hadn't, because her natural self couldn't resist healing it.

"So, what do you think happened? Do you think you are reverting back to your old self?"

"No, Strigoi don't feed from other Strigoi, I think this is something else entirely."

She looked at me, closed her eyes, and a few minutes later re-opened them. "I'm not sure how I know this, but I think I understand it now."

"What is it, why did this happen?"

"How have you been feeling when you aren't around me. Do you feel tired, or restless, sick even?"

"Now that you mention it, I didn't sleep well last night, and my stomach hasn't been the best. I have no clue what it is."

"Uh oh. Dimitri, I think that your body is returning to it's former state. Have you felt any need for blood or any urges to hurt others?"

I was starting to feel scared now, "Yes, I had a bit of an urge yesterday to taste blood, but specifically Rose's blood."

She gasped, "I think that reversing your state from Strigoi to Dhampir was only temporary. I think that the blood in your body is corrupting you. But the Spirit radiating from me is keeping you together."

I sighed, "Well, I guess I should have seen something like this coming. Question is, if your spirit can help me, how can we keep me sane? You can't be with me all the time."

"No, but I may be able to charm something to help you."

I was confused, "What do you mean, charm something?"

She looked at me with a determined look, "I can focus my Spirit into an object, it makes a healing charm. It is possible that could help you. But what could I use. Ah, I know." She opened a drawer on her computer desk and lifted out the _chotki_ she had given Rose for Christmas a few years back.

I was shocked, "I thought Rose had that."

She sighed, "She gave it back before she left to find you, now, I need to concentrate." She sat on her bed with her legs crossed and I watched. She looked at the _chotki_ with intense concentration, and after a few minutes, she handed it to me. "Put it on, tell me if it helps."

I fastened it around my wrist, and as I did, my stomach settled, and my mind felt clearer. "Damn, I guess you were right."

"Would you have preferred it be something worse?"

"No, but this means you were right, and that I am only going to get worse."

She looked into my eyes, "No, you won't. Just come to me every week or so, I will redo the charm. It takes almost no power from me, and in turn produces almost no shadows.'

I smiled, it was nice to know she was right. But now, I had to be careful, I was going to be dependent on Lissa for the rest of my life, and if we turned Rose back, so would she.


	6. Downfall: Chapter Six

**Here is the next chapter, sorry for the delay.**

**Chapter Six - Turning The Tide**

Over the next few weeks, things kept going better and better. Strigoi attacks were failing left and right, and there were rumors circulating that the Strigoi had spies in our ranks, but most of them were being rooted out and killed. It was decided that a squad would be put together to head for Siberia. If Rose was still living at that mansion, we needed to clear it out. It was also decided that Guardian Harkin would be sent with us, since he had so much experience. He was arriving two days before we shipped out, and since I had never seen him before, I decided to meet him. I went to see Lissa who, knowing we would be gone for a week or two, had insisted on being sent with us. Alberta had agreed, on the condition she would be left at the safe house with two guardians.

"For the millionth time, yes, I am sure I want to go Dimitri. I know you care about me, but I will be fine. Besides, without that charm on your wrist, your condition will worsen.", she was irritated, but she also had a hint of worry in her voice.

"Alright.", I smiled, "I just want to make sure. Now, I need to go meet Harkin, you coming?"

She hesitated for a second, "I suppose I should meet him since he is going to Siberia with us."

We walked over to the parking area of campus, and Alberta, not surprisingly, was waiting as well. Just as we arrived, a gray SUV with all tinted windows pulled in and parked. When Harkin got out, I realized that I had underestimated how intimidating he looked. He was in his mid sixties, so I had assumed him to look that way, I was wrong. He looked like his was in his late forties or early fifties. He had jet black hair with streaks of crimson, obviously it had been dyed. He was well muscled, well tanned, and most shocking of all were his molnija marks. I assumed he had wielded a lot of death over the years, I was wrong again. This guy _was_ death. He had so many molnija marks, his neck was covered almost all the way around, and there were several on his right shoulder.

"Ah, Alberta. It's been so long.", he walked over and shook her hand. His voice was fairly deep and seemed to demand respect. He turned to me, "And you must be Guardian Dimitri Belikov, I have heard a lot about you too." He shook my hand and I noticed how firm his grip was.

"It is such a pleasure to meet you Guardian Harkin.", I kept my tone formal.

He smiled and chuckled, "I assure you, the pleasure is all mine. And you.", he said turning to Lissa, "Must be Ms Vasilisa Dragomir. I'm sorry about your parents, they were great people."

I hadn't assumed that he had known Lissa's parents, but this guy knew a lot of people, so that didn't surprise me.

"And about what happened in Europe the other day, I have no clue what came over me. I just got really nervous. I have been wishing lately that I hadn't been pulled out of retirement, and I was actually hoping for a quick death instead of being fed from. But then the shipment of Daylight arrived, and I realized that we had a good chance."

"Well, we should probably get Harkin to his room, let him rest up for the trip.", Alberta was keeping it formal as well.

As Harkin was led off to his room, me and Lissa headed back to her room.

"He scares me. I know it is childish, but he just seems, well, frightening.", Lissa's voice was laced with fear, and she looked scared.

"Don't worry, you are actually safer with him then me. He is highly skilled, and he has been decorated time after time for bravery." I decided she should probably go back and pack, and I should go teach my last class before I leave.

I took Lissa back to her room, and went to the gym for class. As I headed over, I ran into Harkin, who insisted he come to speak to the class.

As we entered the gym, Harkin stayed behind me and waited off to the side while I spoke to the class. "I assume you are all ready for class, but first I have a guest, I don't expect many of you to know who he is. I beckoned, and Andy stepped forward, "This is Senior Guardian Andrew Harkin, he has more experience then any other guardian alive today."

The class gasped as they shifted their attention to Harkin, he was wearing a t-shirt and jeans, and his shirt had the sleeves rolled up, exposing the _molnija_ marks on his right shoulder.

I stepped back so that Andy could speak with the class' undivided attention. "Hello class, I have very little to say to you, and I am not one for speeches, so I will keep this brief. I know that some of you would look at me and think _I want to be just like him when I get older._ Well, if you mean that you want to become respectable Guardians and do your duty well, then do that. If you mean that you want as many Strigoi kills as me, think again. I have seen more death in my life then any one of you would want to know about. I have seen horrors that you couldn't imagine. When I was 19, I was taken prisoner by Strigoi, along with two other Guardians. We were torchered and beaten for information, and when my colleague gave something up, they awakened him and he killled the other one. I was kept alive for about two more days before I escaped and killed every last one of them. I was captured a second time, beaten and torchered again, and escaped to kill them all. I had over twelve kills after that, and I was horrified by what I had done. Trust me, your first few kills are never easy. Over time, I got used to it. But when I look back on all those I have killed, even though every last one of them was an evil bastard, I feel remorse. So when you think you cannot wait to get some _molnija_ marks, you better realize they are just something to remind you of that which you want to forget.

The class was shocked, and I stepped forward, "So, do twenty laps around the track and come back in for stretches and sparring." Guardian Harkin will be happy to show you some sparring techniques. When they exited, I looked at him, "That was an amazing speech."

He looked me in the eyes, "I meant every word of it. I may be skilled, but I am remorseful for what I have done, that is truly what happened in Europe. I didn't want to cause any more death, I wanted my life to end. But, now I realize that it was a foolish thought. I will be happy to help you take down the leaders of this army. Now, shall we?"

He stepped out of the room, and realized how traumatic his life had been. Then I wondered.

Was my life heading down the same path?

**What do you think of Harkin's appearance? (Physical)**

**What do you think of Harkin's personality?**

**Love it, hate it? Review and let me know!**

**-Nueemann  
**


	7. Downfall: Chapter Seven

**Here is the new chapter! I hope you all continue to read and support!**

**Very special thanks to Uchiha Sophitia for all the help they have been giving me recently with the story!  
**

**Chapter Seven - Revelation**

I had to say, it was colder in Novosibrisk then I remembered, we had arrived about 24 hours ago. There were 25 of us, Harkin, Lissa, myself, 18 other Guardians and four other Moroi. The Moroi were there essentially for support. The Strigoi troops here were stronger and better equipped then the ones we had faced back home, since this was where they were based.

After four days of planning, we sent two guardians in during the day to find a way through the net of cameras and laser tripwires that surrounded the house. Meanwhile, me and Harkin were finishing the battle plan.

"I have a better plan, we surround the house and burn it down to the ground. Those bastards will fry and if they try to run, they will burn up in the sun.", Harkin was looking forward to this, I could tell.

"Well, I have to agree, that is a better idea then just storming the house, considering how few Guardians we have to spare."

"Good, let's inform the Guardians, but first, I need a shower.", Harkin said in a sleepy voice as he stripped his t-shirt off. That was when I noticed it.

I knew his right shoulder was almost entirely covered in _Molnija_ marks, but I never noticed the one on the underside of his arm, this one wasn't in black ink, it was a mix of red and orange.

"Excuse me, but why is that _Molnija_ red and orange and not black.", I asked curiously.

He lifted his arm and looked, "I guess I should have figured you would notice that eventually. This one isn't a normal _Molnija_ mark, first off, it isn't black, and second, it isn't an _X_."

I looked more closely and noticed it looked like a bird spreading it's wings over a shield. It was a mix of orange and red colours, and it seemed to sparkle in the light.

"Why the hell do you have a pheonix tatooed on the underside of your arm, and what is it done in if it isn`t ink?", I sounded curious and angry, and I was indeed both.

He chuckled, "You know the charm Alchemists are given, right?"

"Yes, it is gold, and Moroi blood charmed with earth and water magic, it gives them some traits like Dhampirs, including a long life and little illness."

He smiled, "This is similar, except it is more then just gold and Moroi blood, it is Strigoi, Moroi, and Human blood, charmed with all four elements. The charming is what changes the colour and makes it glint in light. It essentially gives me the best traits from all three races. Including speed, strength, little illness, as well as immunity to sunlight and silver stakes."

I gasped, "What about the long life?"

He laughed, "Well that's the thing, instead of just lengthening my life, it makes me immortal. You must realize though, this is truthfully a curse to me. Everyone I will know and care for will die, but I live on. It isn't that great. Plus I don't have the Strigoi healing, and my strength, although great, is weaker then a Strigoi."

I was shocked, not just at the immortality, but that someone had made a charm like this.

"Wait, I can see you getting the Strigoi blood from a corpse, and the Human blood from a willing doner, but where did you get the Moroi blood?"

His smile faded, "Come on, do the math. I am sixty-five, but look like I am between forty eight and fifty-five. You need strong blood to do this, now, what is the Moroi family with the strongest blood?"

I thought for a second, "Isn't it the Dragomir's?"

He smiled, "Very good Dimitri, now, what two Dragomirs were alive roughly twenty years ago."

I gasped again, "The blood in that charm is from Lissa's parents!"

His smile faded again, "Yes, I became very good friends with them, and they planned to try the charm on me and give it to their Guardians, then pass it on to their children, but that plan ended when they died.", he sighed. "It was such a terrible loss. They were great people. That is the reason there is a D in the center of the Pheonix's body. It is in memory of Lissa's parents."

He looked me right in the eyes with a serious look, "You need to promise me that you will keep this a secret, because if anyone finds out, it will be very bad."

I realized that he was right, if the Royals found out about him, they would likely have him killed.

"Well then, lets get going. We need to prepare and start the attack.", he said as he dressed and walked out.

As I followed him out, I wondered if he would let me tell Lissa about this, and if he did, I prayed that she took it well.

**What did you think of Harkin's Charm?**

**Was it a suprise?**

**Love it?**

** Hate it?**

**Please Review and let me know!  
**


	8. Chapter 8: Death Comes Silently

**This is the first chapter I have done in mulitple POVs, I hope you all like it!**

**I will be updating regularly until Downfall is finished, which I think will be in the Chapter 15-17 range.  
**

**Chapter Eight - Death Comes Silently**

_Sarojev's POV_

As I walked down the hallway on the second floor of the house, heading for Rose's room, I stopped and looked out the thick, tinted window. There were Guardians and Moroi in hooded cloaks walking towards the front doors of the house, I rushed to find my wife. I found her, as ususal, sitting on the floor, legs crossed in her room. Meditating, if you could believe it.

"Roza, the Guardians are coming.", I said quietly and calmly.

She opened her eyes, jumped up, and put on the Kevlar vest she always wore, then the robes and mask she wore during battles. "Gather everyone here, tell the two snipers to grab their rifles and wait above the doors. If the Guardians try to burn down the house, shoot them."

I nodded and headed for the top floor room our two resident sharpshooters lived in. They were human brothers, about 35 and 37 years old. They had been recruited because of their shooting talents, and so long as we payed them and didn't kill them, they were more than happy to help us. I told them what Rose had said, they quickly dragged the rifle cases out from under their beds, and headed off to their positions. I found Rose waiting on the third floor, looking over a balcony that had a view of the main entrance corridor. She handed me the earpiece that was usually connected to a speaker somewhere.

"It is placed outside. When they approach, tell them to come in, and that if they refuse, they will be shot at once.", she looked angry, but spoke in a relatively calm voice.

As I relayed the orders to them, they walked into the house. There were about ten guardians and two Moroi here, I laughed. Hardly an attack force. When several of our mauraders ran to greet them, I noticed something.

One of the Guardians had what looked like a gun in his hand, it was connected by a hose to two large tanks on his back. _Oh Shit!_

"Flamethrower!", I shouted, but it was too late, the seven Mauraders were engulfed in flames, their fireproof clothing was useless against the napalm-like fuel the flamethrower used. The Guardian unhooked and dropped it to the floor, I guessed it was out of fuel. More of our men ran to greet them, but they were cut down, then I realized Rose was yelling.

"Damnit! Sarojev! Go down there and teach them a lesson or two!", she looked really angry, and I mean _really really_ angry.

"I am not going down there! It is suicide!", I shouted back.

"Fine then!", she said. She turned to leave, and I turned back to watch our troops fall in battle.

The last thing I ever heard was a swoosh of air.

_Dimitri POV_

As I continued to cut down Strigoi, I heard yelling, and looked up to see Rose and her husband standing on a balcony two floors up arguing. She walked away and he turned to watch the battle. Then, out of nowhere, a blade sliced his head clean off, it rolled off his body and fell to the floor at my feet. Then, I saw Rose pick up his whole body and toss it off the balcony.

"Incoming!", I yelled as we all dodged the falling body.

"Here, take his corpse! Burn it! He is a coward.", Rose yelled. She sounded pissed off, even worse then when Lissa's shadows used to affect her. Then, Rose jumped off the balcony and landed in the midst of all of us.

_Rose POV_

Sarojev deserved to die, the coward. Refusing a direct order. One from _me!_ As I jumped into the crowd of Guardians, all I felt was the bloodlust and black magic flooding through me. I looked at Dimitri and said in a soft and threatening voice, "Miss me?"

I proceeded to cut down two Guardians with my katana, and as I harnessed the power of my anger, I ignored the punches they threw at me. Four of them moved in to pin me down. I skillfully dodged them and as I did, I saw ten Strigoi enter the room. These guys weren't mauraders. They were dressed in all black, they had kevlar combat suits on underneath their robes, which were stained crimson from blood.

These Strigoi, were Royal Guardsmen.

They proceeded to attack anyone remaining, Dimitri promptly fled, as well as 5 surviving Guardians and both Moroi.

I laughed, "Run! Run home to your monarch you cowards!"

I beckoned to one of the guards who came to me, "Prepare everything, we are going to the Bunker in North America. It is the only safe location now. Alert all the Royal Guardsmen, and recall everyone who is in the field, grab the two snipers too. As for everyone else, kill them. They are liabilities now."

The guard nodded in acknowledgement, and I walked away. I hoped and prayed that Lissa and Dimitri would just leave me alone from now on.

**Where in North America do you think Rose is headed to?**

**Did Saro's death surprise you?**

**Do you think he would have joined the Guardians if he had known Rose would kill him?**

**Review and let me know what you think? Whether you love it or hate it, I want to know!**

**-Nueemann  
**


	9. Chapter 9: Picking Up The Trail

**Hey guys, I am really sorry for the wait, but I was playing games a lot over the weekend, and I didn't write much. I promise to try and finish this week!**

**I think it will only be 11-12 chapters instead of 15-16, but the sequel, "Uprising", will be much longer! (I renamed this one because the name Uprising suited the sequel better.)**

**Thanks for reading, and please keep supporting!  
**

**Chapter Nine - Picking Up The Trail  
**

Twenty four hours after the attack, we sent Guardians and Moroi to see if the house was abandoned, they told us it was clear, so we went for a search, hoping we would find info about where Rose had fled to. We searched the house and mostly found bloodied corpses of our dead and several of theirs, until we got to the basement elevator.

"Sweet Jesus...," Harkin muttered as he walked into the hallway at the back of the house. "What in the hell happened here?"

As I walked into the hall, I found myself asking the same question. There were five Strigoi corpses lying there in pools of blood, there was splatter on the walls, and the bodies were missing various limbs. We moved carefully to the elevator, and found two human bodies in the office next to it. There was a computer console that was quietly beeping a warning, of course none of us understood it.

"Damn, does anyone here have experience with computers? Or can someone try to make some sense of this?", I asked to the small group of Guardians with me.

"Well, I did take a few courses in programming in my spare time.", One of the Guardians said as he stepped over and sat at the computer. He typed in a few things and looked up at me.

"Do you have any idea what these computers are here for?", I asked him.

"Well, this one is the elevator control system. And this one," he said as he moved to the other one, "Is the environment control for the basement. The warning this thing is beeping means that all the air was pumped out of the basement, and the elevator was sealed."

"Can you reverse it? And maybe figure out what happened?"

He smiled, "I can try. No guarantees though." As he started typing, me and Andrew left to check the rest of the house.

It was, obviously, clean. There was no real evidence of any sort left behind. Rose had made sure that they had moved everything. Hopefully though, there was something in the basement that we could use. We went back to the elevator to check up on the Guardian and he told us he had started the ventilation, but it would take about twenty minutes for a suitable amount of air to pump in. After the wait, we headed down.

The basement was full of more dead Strigoi, but there was no blood, these ones had all suffocated. After a short search of the six rooms, we hit the jackpot. There was a room in the center of the floor and it was filled with computers and paper documents.

The Guardian that had dealt with the computer moved to a stack of what looked like books that was on a shelf in the corner of the room. He smiled and laughed.

"What exactly are those?", I asked him.

He smiled back, "These, are external hard drives, 20 Terabytes each. These things could hold a lot of data, and a lot of evidence."

Harkin looked at him, "Well, lets start sifting through them."

It took us three hours to figure out what the drives were for, and it was shocking.

Each drive was full of construction orders, reciepts, and blueprints for a Bunker built in a different country. At first, we thought that this could make our search long and difficult, but then, we noticed that only one bunker had been completed, the other ones were months away from being completed or still in the planning stages. Then we noticed where the bunker was, it was outside of Anchorage, Alaska.

"This, is odd. Why would Strigoi be hiding in Alaska?", Harkin sounded really confused.

One of the Moroi with us, apparently an expert on Strigoi anatomy, spoke up. "The Strigoi like the cold better, and they know that we would have a hard time fighting them in it. So they chose the largest city in Alaska."

"Well, I guess we had better start planning and get moving. We need to find Rose and deal with her before she starts an army again.", My voice was confident, but had a hint of worry to it.

Truth is, I was hoping we could turn her back, because even though Lissa could heal me, I doubted that she could heal a torn apart heart and soul.

**Love it, Hate it?**

**Please Review and let me know!  
-Nueemann :)**


	10. Chapter 10: The Best Laid Plans

**Here's Chapter Ten. Chapter 11 is the final real chapter, Chapter 12 will be an Epilogue.**

**Thanks for all the support so far, and I hope to have this finished tomorrow or Wednesday. I may suffer a major delay but if I do I will let you all know.**

**Enjoy!  
**

**Chapter Ten - The Best Laid Plans**

We had taken every spare Guardian possible, about 70 in total, to Anchorage and began to plan our attack. We weren't even sure Rose, or any other Strigoi were there, but this was the only Bunker that records indicated was finished. The blueprints showed that there was one main entrance and an emergency exit. The main entrance was a set of stairs that descended three stories into the Bunker, which had four floors. The Command Center, which was essentially the throne room and heart of the entire damn place, was connected directly to the escape tunnel, was in the center of the fourth floor, at the center of the bottom floor, so we would be focusing on making it there. We knew the Strigoi would fight us for every damn inch of the place, so we had every weapon we could muster, including a shotgun assigned to every Guardian, as well as Silver Stakes and Fire using Moroi.

"So, let's go over this one more time.", Harkin said aloud to the Guardians and Moroi gathered in the room. "First entry will be a team of 55 Guardians and 12 Moroi into the main entrance, this will be a distraction. Then, our computer specialist," he nodded to the Guardian who had helped us back at the mansion, "will tap into the control system and disable the alarms linked to the emergency elevator. Then, the team of 15 Guardians and 5 Moroi will descend in the elevator and take the Command Center. Guardian Belikov and myself will be taking this group, because it is the most dangerous task. Good luck to you all, and may god help us."

As the Guardians dispersed, likely to get some rest, I approached Harkin. "Do you really think that this will work?"

"Well," he began, "I think that either this will work brilliantly, or that we are all going to die. But hopefully, we can take down that bitch of a Queen with us."

I flinched at him calling Rose a bitch, "Remember Andy, I love that girl, so you better fucking try and capture her. If you don't, then I am going to make sure you regret it."

He shook his head and chuckled, "Dimitri, you cannot let your feelings get in the way here. If she lives, then you are going to die, and if she lives, then this war is not going to end. If she doesn't die or get converted, I will hold you responsible. Start thinking straight man, this has to end."

He walked away and I went to see Lissa.

"Dimitri!" She said as she ran over to hug me, "How long has it been since you had your charm done, are you feeling alright?"

I didn't like her making a fuss over me, "Calm down Lissa, don't worry about me, how are you?"

She sighed, "About the same as any other day, I suppose. I miss Rose, and I hope we can turn her back to her old self."

I looked at Lissa, and whispered into her ear, "I do too." I leaned in and kissed her, as passionetly as I could. I knew it was the only way I could get her to calm down and relax a bit.

"Dimitri, if we turn her back, we can't do that anymore, you understand, right?"

I nodded, "Yes, but it will be worth it. We need Rose back." I smiled, "Think you could ever get used to Harkin?"

A small smile appeared on her face, "Maybe, I know he is talented, and that would make him a great Guardian."

"Good," I said, "Because I am going to see if I can get him assigned to you after this is all over. We could use his talents. Besides, with him as your Guardian, it would make politics easier having an intimidating Guardian."

She looked at me and her smile grew larger, "I suppose that would be nice, he doesn't seem so bad."

"Well, I have to go get some rest, I have to go for the attack tomorrow."

Her smile managed to grow even sweeter, "I understand." She kissed me lightly on the cheek, "Be careful Dimitri, and please bring her back."

I nodded and walked away. I knew that no matter what happened, we had to end this tomorrow.

Whether I died, or Rose died, it _would_ end tomorrow.


	11. Chapter 11: Zero Hour

**I'm uploading this now since Chapter Ten was so short.**

**This is it, will Rose die, or live? Read and see....  
**

**Chapter Eleven - Zero Hour**

This was it. The time had come.

All the death, all the destruction. it was going to end. Right here, right now.

Just then, a voice came over my earpiece, "Team one in position. Waiting for orders."

I then heard Harkin next to me and in my ear, "This is team two, understood. Begin the operation, breach the main entrance and contact us when you hit first contact."

"Understood, radio in when you breach the Command Center, team one out."

So, we sat and waited. It was cold, especially since it was daytime in the middle of the winter. Rose had picked a remote location close to the city for her Bunker, she was smart, but not smart enough to remove that evidence from the house. I surveyed the team, 15 Guardians and 5 Moroi, our computer specialist was carrying a weather-proofed laptop and was trying to crack the security on the computers down below.

Just then, a voice came over my earpiece again and I could hear fighting in the background, "This is team one, we have encountered heavy resistance, but they are focused on us, you are clear to enter. Repeat, clear to enter!"

"Alright!", Harkin shouted, "This is it! Johnson, did you crack that security yet?"

The Guardian looked up from his laptop, "Alarms are down, elevator is still running, and they are locked out of all important systems, I also have a video feed."

"Patch it through."

He typed in a command and showed us the laptop, Rose was sitting in a chair in the center of the room, surrounded by computers and other Strigoi. "What in the hell is going on! How many are there?!"

"About 50." One of the Strigoi shouted back.

"Well, we will fight to the death, I am not leaving. Wait for them to come, and slaughter them."

Harkin smiled, "Good, she's nervous. Let's go."

The elevator raised out of a trap door in the ground, and we all hopped in. It was very large, likely a cargo elevator. As we reached the bottom of the shaft the door opened silently, and we quietly moved to the heavy doors that were sitting between us and Rose. I nodded and one of the Guardians moved forward and opened the door.

All hell broke loose.

As we entered, the Moroi set every Strigoi in sight, aside from Rose, aflame. Apparently, these guys cared more about their looks then safety, cause' they lit up like bonfires. Rose stared shocked, and then looked pissed. Really pissed.

She got up, drew her sword and jumped forward. She held up her hand and fire danced across her palm, it flew and split, hitting and setting alight three Guardians and a Moroi. She proceeded to test two of our Guardians in combat, she fought sword to stake, and our guardians did very well. She killed both of them, and even though they slashed her several times, she ignored the pain. Then, a shockwave, like an invisible wave, forced everyone against the wall. Everyone except me.

"Come here my Dear Dimka, fight me like a real man!", she was furious and guided by blood lust.

I noticed two swords on the wall, so I grabbed one and began dueling with her. Amazingly, I managed to skillfully counter and block every attack she threw at me. She began to get more and more frustrated until, eventually, she used her Black Magic to trip me, breaking a leg in the process.

"I will kill you, then the others. Let this be a lesson to Moroi and Dhampirs everywhere. DO NOT FUCK WITH QUEEN ROSEMAIRE HATHAWAY!" She was screaming now. As she was about the bring the sword down upon me, Harkin broke free of the bond holding him to the wall, grabbed the other sword, and stabbed her through the heart from behind.

She screamed a horrible scream as she crumpled to the ground. Everyone immediately fell from against the wall, as everyone approached, she spit up some blood and looked at us, "Damn you. Damn you all. Damn you all and both your insignificant weak pathetic fucking races. Kill me now. Or I will use what little magic I have left to kill us all."

Harkin moved forward and kicked her in the side of the head, it knocked her out. He pulled the sword from her and looked at it, "It isn't silver, she is only knocked out, you can still convert her back. If you are going to do it, do it soon, before she wakes up."

Harkin and the others went to help eliminate the remaining Strigoi in the place. I somehow managed to get up and pick up Rose. I carried her out, and hoped I got her to Lissa in time.

**Okay, okay. I know I didn't say whether or not she lived or died, but that is in Twelve! Wait till tomorrow, it is coming.....  
-Nueemann**


	12. Chapter 12: Buyers RemorseEpilogue:ADAW

**Here it is! The finale, I hope you all enjoy reading it!**

**Disclaimer - Go back to like chapter one or two and find it.  
**

**Chapter Twelve - Buyers Remorse**

I had carried Rose through the cold, harsh Alaskan air for three hours until we finally reached the home we were staying in. It was a short drive from the city, and the Moroi family living there was happy that they weren't targets for the Strigoi. Every last one in that bunker had been killed, except for Rose. And standing next to LIssa, I began to feel like I was responsible for this whole mess. I had Awakened her.

I had had helped her make that army.

I had helped her slaughter all those innocent people.....

No. I was not thinking clearly then, I wasn't really myself. I looked at Lissa and asked, "Do you think it can be done?"

She nodded, "Yes, even though she is in very bad condition, it can likely be done."

I left Lissa to work. The process was mostly through special healings that targeted giving the soul back to the body and repairing the damage done to it. In the meantime, I went to see Harkin.

"Word is there is quite a split amongst the Royals.", he said as I approached.

I was curious, "Split? Over what?"

He turned and smiled, "Some Royals want a new King or Queen to be crowned, you know, re-establish the monarchy. The others want a council of elected leaders, they think it is time for change."

"Hmm. Who do you think will win?"

"Well, The Ozeras, The Badicas, The Drozdovs, and The Lazar families have all voiced support for a new council. Every other family wants the Monarchy. Including the Ivashkovs, and since they are the greatest in number and influence, they will likely win."

I sighed, "Well, so much for change. I need some sleep and about a week of vacation, somewhere sunny."

Harkin smiled, "Don't we all. Don't we all."

About twelve hours later I went to see Rose, Lissa said that she had been healed, and everything looked normal. As I entered, Rose was alone, along with a nurse.

As the nurse left, I looked at Rose, "So, how are you feeling?"

An unwelcome but all to familiar smile crossed her lips, it was the same smile she had as a Strigoi, "Great. Better than before."

I eyed her suspiciously, "You sure? I think Lissa may have messed up...."

"No. I am Dhampir again, well, not entirely. My soul was returned, although don't you wonder, if maybe it was there all along?"

"Rose," I said cautiously, "What are you talking about?"

She laughed, but it wasn't a warm laugh, it was cold, and heartless. "In case you never noticed, being Shadow Kissed allowed me to retain my soul through the Awakening. My personality has not changed my Dear Dimka. Your's might have, but, no offense, you are weak."

I just stared, my mouth would have fallen open if my anger wasn't jamming it shut.

"You allowed the Guardians to capture you during that raid, and you were older then me at that point. Older! I am afraid that all Lissa has done is weakened my senses, strength, and reflexes by a miniscule ammount. I am still immortal. And I am once again immune to Stakes and Sunlight."

I was shocked, this had not helped, it had made things worse.

"All hope for you is lost, I think the others will want you dead now." I got up and started to leave.

"Oh, don't bother, the Royals will want to see me suffer, and death isn't suffering Dimitri. They will want me in prison."

I stopped dead in my tracks, she was right. The Royals would make sure she was imprisoned for what she did. And she would likely escape.

"So I guess you will escape and do this all over again?", I asked as I turned and smiled.

She smiled right back, "No. I will await conviction at trial and spend eternity in a prison cell. Besides, I always have Lissa's bond to give me entertainment."

"Wait, what! Your bond was restored?"

She laughed again, "Oh come on now, I had it all along. It was useless to me though. After all, she was never with the attack groups, and she didn't know what the plans were half the time. Oh well, I have lived enough excitement in my life, I suppose it is time to settle down and relax for a while."

I just left, I had to get away from her.

She had retained her soul through all this, and I was shocked. She had murdered almost a thousand innocent people without any remorse, and she would gladly kill a thousand more.

I couldn't believe it. The girl of my dreams had done all this of her own free will.

**Epilogue - Another Day At Work**

The Moroi had chosen to elect a new King, a Zeklos. He was a tough and sadistic bastard, awfully close to a dictator. He crushed anyone who proposed change, and when time had come to scentence Rose, he had forbade a trial, and gave her a cell to live in the rest of her life.

The non-royals had a hard but fair life before, being servants for the Royal families, but they had recieved fair pay and good benifits. The new King saw all that go away. He imposed restrictions on what non-royals could and couldn't do, and they were treated a hundred times worse then before. I swore, this was not going to end well.

Harkin and I had been assigned to guard Lissa, and we were happy to do it. She needed a good Guardian, and now she had two of the best. We had all be through hell and back, and we had survived. I have to say, I'm glad to get a day or two break between stories, I mean jeez, does this author have to push me so hard?!

**There it is, Downfall is now completed!**

**I am starting Uprising in a few days, I need a break. I could get bored and start it later today, who knows!**

**I SWEAR I will do my best to make Uprising at LEAST 30 chapters. We all know that is hard, but I will try.**

**Thanks for reading, thanks for supporting, and please R+R! :)  
-Nueemann**


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